Student Research

At the confluence of East and West : Turkey as an important ally to the West

The Republic of Turkey is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and has indicated aspirations of joining the European Union; both NATO and the EU can be viewed as institutional embodiments of the West and therefore underscore Turkey's Western orientation. The first section of this paper introduces the historical and foundational ties between Turkey and the West. This includes the strong economic and security ties between the two. The second section seeks to identify some of the biggest challenges to Turkey-West relations. These challenges include the historically-strained Greco-Turkish relationship and the issue of Cyprus. The next challenge discussed is the delicate Kurdish issue and how it impacts the current conflict in Syria. The final challenge to Turkey-West relations is the erosion of democratic institutions under Prime Minister-turned President Recep Erdogan. The section following this describes the waning of Western power in the vital Middle East region, and how Turkey is posed to remedy this fact due to its cultural and geographic proximity to the region. Finally, the analysis section seeks to provide recommendations to rectify the challenges while underlining the numerous benefits of a strong relationship between the Western world and Turkey.

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